What is RRS feed and how can it help you?

Ever wondered what that little orange sign is on many webpages? That is a RSS Feed sign. What does it mean? How can it help you? How can you use it to benefit your business and your intrests?

1) DEFINING YOUR INTERESTS

Imagine that you come accross with a webpage that is very interesting? How do you find it in the future? What if there would be a magic button that would help you get information when something happens on those pages? Just like in Facebook where you get all the latest news to your Wall? Well there is, it’s called RSS Feed.

RSS Feed comes from words Really Simple Syndication. RSS feed gives you the change to keep tract of what is happening on those webpages you like to follow. Instead of you going from time to time to those page to see if something is happening, you will get an instant message to your RSS reader if new info is added to that page where you clicked the RSS feed button. Imagine how easy that makes the job for you! No need to go over and over again to the pages to see if something has been changed/added. The RSS feed does the trick for you.

2) HOW TO GET RSS FEEDS? OPEN GOOGLE ACCOUNT OR/ADD READER TO YOUR GOOGLE SERVICES

Google account

So how does it work? To you the RSS feed you need RSS feed reader? How do you get that? There are ofcause several available RSS Readers. The most common is Google reader in http://www.google.com/reader/. If you have a gmail-account or google-account you can add a reader to your services by signing in to google-account and clicking Settings and Google account settings. If you don’t yet have Google account the open one free account from www.google.com page.

3) WHAT TO DO WHEN I CAME ACROSS A GOOD SITE/PAGE?

Sign in browser address-field

When you have signed up for a google-account and add Reader to your google services, you are ready to start! Next to you come to a webpage or a blog that you really like, check out if you can find the RSS image either on the webpage or in the address-field in the browser.

Click that orange-sign and you will get a window asking you what RSS Reader you want to use. Choose Google-reader (or just Google) and click the box where it asks if you want to use this reader every time in the future. You have just subscribed to the RSS Feed.

In the future when you click a RSS Feed sign on some page you will automatically get a page where it asked you if you want to add the RSS feed to your Google Homepage (Add to Google Homepage) or your Google reader (Add to Google Reader) for this RSS Feed.

Add to Reader

(If you click Google Homepage you see the RSS Feeds immediately when you have signed into you google account and clicked iGoogle link on top right upper corner of the page. If you click the Google reader sign and the RSS feed is added to you Reader.)

4) WHERE CAN I SEE/READ MY FEEDS?

So how do you access you RSS Feeds if you choose to use Google Reader instead of Google homepage for reading the feeds? Go to the address http://www.google.com/reader/. Sign in if you are not already signed into your google-account. You will access your google reader page. On the left side of the page you’ll find all your links that you follow. If the folder (feed) name is bold and has a number on it, that means you have new feeds to read. Click the folder and see the headings of the feeds. If there is anything ineresting then click the heading and you will end up to the webpage where the feed came from. When you have gone through the feed click the “Mark all as read” button. That marks all the feeds as read and the folder is not showing anymore bold to indicate that you have new feeds to read.

Read your feeds from Reader

5) HOW TO BENEFIT FOLLOWING RSS FEEDS?

How can you use RSS feed to benefit you and your business? RSS feed system is an easy way to follow those sites you are interested in. You can follow your competitors, your customers, blogs, interesting sites in general. By taking it a habit of checking out your RSS feeds every day you can see what it happening with your connections and interests. How powerful tool if used regularly! Be among the firsts to know what’s happening!

6) HOW TO USE RSS FEED SYSTEM ON YOUR OWN WEBSITE?

How to use the RSS Feed system on your webpage? Since RSS feed sends the feeds to Google and other search engines, it also helps the webpage to send info to the search engines of all the changes on the page. Normally the RSS feed can be shown on a blog-page not neccessary on the static page. Each website should therefore have a blog with RSS-feed button. This ofcause means there must be some changes done from time to time. Weekly if possible! Changes, additions do not have to be big ones, as long as there are freqvent. This will enchange your webpage status on google. Google will notice if no changes happen on your webpage.

How can you get feeds from conversations in the internet and of different topics you are interested of? Hmm… next time! Anne Mattila